An objective of orthodontics is to move a patient's teeth to positions where function and/or aesthetics are optimized. Dental appliances, such as metal-type braces, are applied to the patient's teeth by a dental/orthodontic professional for exerting a continual force on the teeth in order to gradually move them toward their intended positions. One alternative to metal-type braces is the use of progressive, removable aligners for gradually moving the teeth to their desired, final positions in a more abbreviated and comfortable manner for the patient.
In general, to fabricate a set of aligners, a patient will visit the dental/orthodontic professional who will obtain a dental impression of the initial position of the patient's teeth. Then, the dental/orthodontic professional sends a custom order to a medical device company to manufacture a set of aligners for the patient. Once the set of aligners is manufactured, the medical device company ships the set of aligners back to the dental/orthodontic professional for the patient's use. Often times, the medical device company may receive multiple orders from a single dental professional within a short period of time (e.g., the same day, or within a few days of each other). In turn, multiple sets of aligners are likely to be manufactured and ready for shipment to that single dental professional within a short period of time. Thus, the dental professional may receive multiple shipments on the same day which results in customer inconvenience, higher shipping costs, and extra wastage of materials.